Stan A. Einstein wrote:

allontheamber wrote:I applaud any initiative to improve our gates but, I've said it before on other threads, there never has been much of an appetite for league football in Newport. Plenty of appetite for cup games (eg Spurs, Leeds and historically CZJ) but for run of the mill league football,sadly not.

Is that because,

a) we are not doing the work to attract a larger crowd properly, or......

b) the people of Newport are genetically different from everyone else?

Brendan, as has been explained by others on here, it is not because of (a).

As for (b) that is the wrong suggestion. A better suggestion surely would have been;
Do the people of Newport have a different mindset to other towns/cities regarding the following of football?

The answer to that I reckon is - yes, unfortunately they do.

For reasons that are probably unfathomable, that is how it is unfortunately. My own thoughts and reasons (not necessarily right though) are:

Rugby
History
General football malaise in the town
and I know you won't agree, but, Mr H being right.

I do wish I had a magic wand and could make those missing fans appear, but, in my lifetime..........hm.

pembsexile wrote:

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

allontheamber wrote:I applaud any initiative to improve our gates but, I've said it before on other threads, there never has been much of an appetite for league football in Newport. Plenty of appetite for cup games (eg Spurs, Leeds and historically CZJ) but for run of the mill league football,sadly not.

Is that because,

a) we are not doing the work to attract a larger crowd properly, or......

b) the people of Newport are genetically different from everyone else?

Brendan, as has been explained by others on here, it is not because of (a).

As for (b) that is the wrong suggestion. A better suggestion surely would have been;
Do the people of Newport have a different mindset to other towns/cities regarding the following of football?

The answer to that I reckon is - yes, unfortunately they do.

For reasons that are probably unfathomable, that is how it is unfortunately. My own thoughts and reasons (not necessarily right though) are:

Rugby
History
General football malaise in the town
and I know you won't agree, but, Mr H being right.

I do wish I had a magic wand and could make those missing fans appear, but, in my lifetime..........hm.

A load of my mates, nephews mates, my brothers etc from Newport love football but simply not interested in Newport County, (though amazingly quite a few of them managed the Wembley trips) just the usual Liverpool, Man Utd etc on the box.

pembsexile wrote: Brendan, as has been explained by others on here, it is not because of (a).

As for (b) that is the wrong suggestion. A better suggestion surely would have been;
Do the people of Newport have a different mindset to other towns/cities regarding the following of football?

The answer to that I reckon is - yes, unfortunately they do.

For reasons that are probably unfathomable, that is how it is unfortunately. My own thoughts and reasons (not necessarily right though) are:

Rugby
History
General football malaise in the town
and I know you won't agree, but, Mr H being right.

I do wish I had a magic wand and could make those missing fans appear, but, in my lifetime..........hm.

Hi Mike,

I have to disagree with you on this one.

I think today people are not prepared to sit and get soaked at a football match, I think also cost comes into it.

A dad with a couple of kids, or a mum is going to find the cost of all three going prohibitive. Going alone without the kids, might cause problems.

Just an idea. All children free with a paying adult. I suspect in the long term that would make money. Give me the child and all that.

Best wishes,

Brendan

More Sky subscriptions less gates ,a simple equation
Absolutely bugger all to do with the local populaces apathy
And as long as the F A line their grubby pockets with Sky money and let them run footy nothing , absolutely nothing will change

mad norm wrote:More Sky subscriptions less gates ,a simple equation
Absolutely bugger all to do with the local populaces apathy
And as long as the F A line their grubby pockets with Sky money and let them run footy nothing , absolutely nothing will change

Gates throughout the League are higher now by about 25% than they were twenty five years ago.

Whilst I agree about the FA and their grubby pockets I have to point out that they have Sky in Lincoln.

mad norm wrote:More Sky subscriptions less gates ,a simple equation
Absolutely bugger all to do with the local populaces apathy
And as long as the F A line their grubby pockets with Sky money and let them run footy nothing , absolutely nothing will change

Many years ago Brian Clough suggested that football on (terrestrial) TV was the main reason why fans didn't go to games as much. He tried to get it banned. Meanwhile Forest' gates were going through the roof, and they were winning the league and European Cups.

To blame all football attendance problems on Sky TV is like blaming all your recent weight gain on the one pizza you had a few weeks ago. The reasons gates are low are various and 'local populace apathy' is just one of them. Hardly 'bugger all'. If you are going to attempt to ridicule an argument you will have to do better than that.

pembsexile wrote:

mad norm wrote:More Sky subscriptions less gates ,a simple equation
Absolutely bugger all to do with the local populaces apathy
And as long as the F A line their grubby pockets with Sky money and let them run footy nothing , absolutely nothing will change

Many years ago Brian Clough suggested that football on (terrestrial) TV was the main reason why fans didn't go to games as much. He tried to get it banned. Meanwhile Forest' gates were going through the roof, and they were winning the league and European Cups.

To blame all football attendance problems on Sky TV is like blaming all your recent weight gain on the one pizza you had a few weeks ago. The reasons gates are low are various and 'local populace apathy' is just one of them. Hardly 'bugger all'. If you are going to attempt to ridicule an argument you will have to do better than that.

Pembsexile.... I would never attempt to ridicule an arguement ... it's not my thing....I am simply saying that big money has corrupted the sporting ethos I grew up with.
I am sick and tired of overpaid pundits screwing even more money out of the Sky Behemoth telling us absolutely nothing in a professional way.
P.S.are the Hazell bogs any better?

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

frostyjohn wrote:The bottom line in terms of attendances is results. I recognise there are other factors such as marketing, "lost years", etc. However County have to overcome a long legacy of flattering to deceive i.e. failure and under performance on the pitch which is instilled in the mindset of people of Newport and surrounding area as low expectation. They also have to overcome a long legacy of playing unglamorous opponents with just the occasional game against a "name" side. The answer includes such as already suggested but it will take a few (many?) years of consistent success to overcome the legacy.

But when it comes to unglamorous opposition Newport County are right up there. Why do more people attend Exeter v Newport than attend Newport v Exeter?

I am not trying to score points. My concern is that finding excuses is easy, finding the cause and rectifying is difficult.

Edit.

I have just read Wattsville boy's post. Notwithstanding we could both be wrong, I tend to agree with his analysis.

Exeter is a smaller city with a much better supported rugby team. Northampton has bigger crowds again in rugby and football and has a county cricket team. As someone who lives in Newport this club does not do enough to attract fans, you wouldn't know we existed if you'd just moved into the area, again the next match sign has stopped being updated.

Amberexile wrote:There were a few seasons in the 70s where it was a toss up between us and Halifax for who would have the season's first gate below 1,000. Halifax usually won.

So Brian Harris was right all along then.

I work a lot in Exeter and unless you drive past their ground you wouldn't know they had a football team.
However, much like Newport i believe they have access to newspapers, television, internet etc so if you're interested in them you'd know how to find their fixtures.

The club do a hell of a lot of work in the community, hospital, schools etc ... We've also had quite a few high profile games over the last few years including 3 trips to Wembley and an open top bus parade through the city, loads of media coverage, so if people of Newport still don't know they have a football league team then they're f***ing stupid... I give them a bit more credit than that though.

Exile 1976 wrote:I work a lot in Exeter and unless you drive past their ground you wouldn't know they had a football team.
However, much like Newport i believe they have access to newspapers, television, internet etc so if you're interested in them you'd know how to find their fixtures.

The club do a hell of a lot of work in the community, hospital, schools etc ... We've also had quite a few high profile games over the last few years including 3 trips to Wembley and an open top bus parade through the city, loads of media coverage, so if people of Newport still don't know they have a football league team then they're f***ing stupid... I give them a bit more credit than that though.

Exeter also had just 5 years In the conference , even in that time they played Manchester United in the 3rd round of the FA cup which ensured the football club was kept in the minds of the locals. We, on the other hand had 20 years of playing the likes of Hemel Hempstead , Redditch , Lewes and Ilkeston coinciding with Andy Gray and Richard Keys saturating our screens with premiership football and satisfying the Newport Scousers, Manc's or Cockneys.

It is also worth noting that Exeter City's nearest rivals are Torquay, Yeovil and Plymouth, ours on the other hand are championship Bristol City , premiership Swansea City ( until recently) and premiership Cardiff City.

It is amazing how far we have come back, if, and it's a big if we are still in contention for promotion come March , my view is we will be closer to 5,000 than 3,000 and when you consider just 10 years ago our average attendance was 852, that is quite remarkable growth.

mad norm wrote:

pembsexile wrote:

mad norm wrote:More Sky subscriptions less gates ,a simple equation
Absolutely bugger all to do with the local populaces apathy
And as long as the F A line their grubby pockets with Sky money and let them run footy nothing , absolutely nothing will change

Many years ago Brian Clough suggested that football on (terrestrial) TV was the main reason why fans didn't go to games as much. He tried to get it banned. Meanwhile Forest' gates were going through the roof, and they were winning the league and European Cups.

To blame all football attendance problems on Sky TV is like blaming all your recent weight gain on the one pizza you had a few weeks ago. The reasons gates are low are various and 'local populace apathy' is just one of them. Hardly 'bugger all'. If you are going to attempt to ridicule an argument you will have to do better than that.

Pembsexile.... I would never attempt to ridicule an arguement ... it's not my thing....I am simply saying that big money has corrupted the sporting ethos I grew up with.
I am sick and tired of overpaid pundits screwing even more money out of the Sky Behemoth telling us absolutely nothing in a professional way.
P.S.are the Hazell bogs any better?

OK Norm, but I stand by my point about Sky Sports. I don't like them either but they are not the whole problem. Sky subscriptions are high and so are gates for the Premiership so there is little corroboration between the two.

Big money (payments to players) are part of a societal problem and you cannot just attribute that as the cause of low attendance. I don't like the wages that top players get either, but that doesn't explain County's problem on its own.

The club need to be congratulated on the initiatives it has shown to get bums on seats, but the work needs to carry on (relentlessly). You have a harder nut to crack with the people of Newport than some other places unfortunately. There is no magic solution.

P.S. The Hazell bogs seem a little better than last time. A lick of paint has done wonders. Still smelly though. Cannot possibly be thought of in the same category as the old open bogs by the side of the Grandstand at SP. Worse bogs I have ever seen in my life

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

pembsexile wrote: Brendan, as has been explained by others on here, it is not because of (a).

As for (b) that is the wrong suggestion. A better suggestion surely would have been;
Do the people of Newport have a different mindset to other towns/cities regarding the following of football?

The answer to that I reckon is - yes, unfortunately they do.

For reasons that are probably unfathomable, that is how it is unfortunately. My own thoughts and reasons (not necessarily right though) are:

Rugby
History
General football malaise in the town
and I know you won't agree, but, Mr H being right.

I do wish I had a magic wand and could make those missing fans appear, but, in my lifetime..........hm.

Hi Mike,

I have to disagree with you on this one.

I think today people are not prepared to sit and get soaked at a football match, I think also cost comes into it.

A dad with a couple of kids, or a mum is going to find the cost of all three going prohibitive. Going alone without the kids, might cause problems.

Just an idea. All children free with a paying adult. I suspect in the long term that would make money. Give me the child and all that.

Best wishes,

Brendan

There is a bit in both that I agree with.

Newport does seem to have a 'glory following' for both main sports (rugby and football) in the City. We have seen crowds at an average of 8-10k when Newport RFC were doing well in the 90s and 00s. We have seen the crowds that the Exiles can attract when there is a 'big' fixture - e.g. Leeds, Spurs, Notts County(!).

Newport RFC did it right when they were getting those crowds with the Family Village and party atmosphere but it did come at a cost and they were fortunate to have Mr Tony Brown's wallet to pay for it.

I like Stan's idea of free tickets for kids. Newport RFC do it and it has been a success, although they are in a second rate competition the youth crowd is good.

I would suggest that all Exiles U16s can apply for a free season-ticket (league games and Checkatrade Trophy games only). This needs to be done pre-season and then each game the individual needs to confirm attendance 48 hours before the fixture takes place.

I know the County in the Community team do a great job but if we had a 'school officer' for each and every primary and secondary school in Gwent it could help in getting kids down - each school could be given 50 free tickets? Speculate to accumulate. A short term hit may be beneficial in the future. remember the slogan 'Football with a Future'?

More football events need to be held too like Hall of Fame events or reunion nights too!

Developing this discussion, it's clear that most contributions acknowledge that our gates are disappointing but hold different views as to why. I suspect that there is probably more than one single reason.

Now my beliefs as to cause and to what our response should be share one aspect with everyone else's view. That being we are basing our arguments on gut instinct. Which is fine but logic dictates we could be wrong.

For me this is why County need a competent person at the helm. Not to own the club, not to direct the club. But to administer the club to ensure we achieve all we are capable of.

I don't much care whether this person is called a CEO or some other title, whether they are a man or a woman, or even if they are a 'football person'. We have a product which we want to succeed. To do this we need to ensure that people who have an interest in County, but don't share our fanatical interest actually spend some/more of their disposable income on watching County.

This can't be done cheaply or on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes it's important to realize that enthusiasm alone is not enough. I would gladly play for County for free and run my socks off. But only a madman would think it would be a good idea to sign me up. Same rationale for a CEO. We need someone with the strategic experience to make a success of our club.

Percy plunkett wrote:

Amberexile wrote:There were a few seasons in the 70s where it was a toss up between us and Halifax for who would have the season's first gate below 1,000. Halifax usually won.

So Brian Harris was right all along then.

About what?